DISGRUNTLED Newcastle Knights members have called a crisis meeting at 6pm at Lambton’s Mark Hotel tonight to discuss Nathan Tinkler’s withdrawal of his $100million offer to take over the NRL club.

The Newcastle Herald has been told the meeting has been called with a view to attracting at least 100 members, who would then be in a position to call an extraordinary general meeting in 21 days to move a vote of no confidence in the club’s board of directors.

The Herald understands that if that extraordinary general meeting went ahead and the current board was effectively voted out, an interim board could be elected and that could potentially clear the way for Tinkler to reconsider and put his offer back on the negotiating table.

At least 75 per cent of members must vote in favour of Tinkler’s proposal to change the club’s constitution and allow the mining and racing magnate to take control.

In an interview with the Herald today, Tinkler said he had pulled his offer and walked away and would have no further dealings with the NRL club under their current management, which is headed up by chief executive Steve Burraston and chairman Rob Tew.

Tinkler and the Tinkler Sports Group management team were due to meet at 2pm today with Knights chief executive Steve Burraston and chairman Rob Tew to resolve their differences but a furious and frustrated Tinkler has told the Herald that the meeting has been cancelled and his offer withdrawn.

Fed up with what he perceived to be procrastination by Knights management since they rejected his initial $10 million proposal three months ago, which he upgraded on January 17 to up to $100 million for the next 10 years, Tinkler said he had done all he can but had had enough.

Tinkler guarantees $20m safety net for Knights deal

NATHAN Tinkler’s offer to buy the Knights is underpinned by an ironclad bank guarantee that provides the club with up to $20million if the mining magnate is unable to meet his commitments.

The safety net is part of a revised proposal from Tinkler that Knights directors are expected to sign off on today. ‘‘These are real hard bank guarantees,’’ Tinkler Sports Group executive chairman Ken Edwards said last night.

‘‘Effectively it is cash, which in certain scenarios the club, meaning the members’ club, has direct access to in the event that we do not fulfil our obligation.

‘‘Nathan has to pay a fee to have that available, and it is $20million he can’t spend on something else.’’

The Knights board of directors is scheduled to meet today and is expected to formally endorse the Tinkler offer, which also includes:

¦ guaranteeing $10million in annual sponsorship revenue for the next 10 years;

¦ wiping the club’s accumulated losses, estimated at about $3million;

¦ injecting $2.5million a year into junior development;

¦ guaranteeing members’ buy-back rights and;

¦ a ‘‘heritage share’’ enshrining the club’s name, colours, location and home ground as the Newcastle Knights based at Ausgrid (formerly EnergyAustralia) Stadium.

The proposal will then be put to the 3000 eligible members to vote on at an extraordinary general meeting, tentatively scheduled for March 30, at which a 75 per cent majority is needed for Tinkler to take control of the Knights.

TSG has secured the guarantee for ‘‘Knights Newco’’, the proposed joint venture company formed between the Knights and the TSG, as a financial safety net protecting the Knights club and the Knights Newco company.

The $20million guarantee would be in place for the first two years of the deal and reduce to $10million, indexed to CPI, for the remaining eight years.

‘‘It’s a safeguard there that gives some comfort to the entity [the Knights club or Knights Newco] who requires to act on the guarantee in the event of a shortfall or a catastrophe,’’ Knights chairman Rob Tew said last night.

The guarantee, which it is understood will incur $500,000 in bank charges for the first two years and $200,000 a year thereafter absorbed by TSG, was negotiated by Tew to ensure the club’s protection.

‘‘Robbie’s stated objective was to have as many parachutes in place in the unlikely event that things went wrong,’’ Edwards said. ‘‘That is what we have agreed to and that is what we have been able to deliver to members.’’

Tinkler offer best ever, says Knights CEO

BY JAMES GARDINER AND AAP

03 Mar, 2011 04:00 AM

THE Newcastle Knights board will meet this morning to dissect the $100million takeover bid from coal magnate Nathan Tinkler described by club chief executive Steve Burraston yesterday as the best in NRL history.

The meeting was scheduled for yesterday but was postponed to allow all board members to analyse the hefty document in more detail.

The deal described by club chairman Rob Tew as a ‘‘mirage’’ less than a fortnight ago was tagged by Burraston yesterday as unsurpassed.

‘‘If the document reflects what we’ve discussed, particularly over the last week, then it’s probably the best deal that’s ever been put to an NRL club,’’ Burraston said.

Newcastle have about 3000 voting members who will decide whether to accept Tinkler’s offer of private, non-profit ownership or remain as a membership-based community club.

That vote will take place on March 30, on a night Burraston described as the most important in Knights history.

‘‘It really will come down to a decision by the members whether they want to stay a community club through membership ownership or whether they’re happy to privatise the club and give up that right,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s a significant opportunity and we need to get the full information to [our members].

‘‘We need to give them time to decipher that information, and if they need to take advice to do that, they should do that because it is the most important decision ever made in the history of our club.’’

Knights captain Kurt Gidley said Tinkler had already won over the players, who have thrown their support behind his bid.

Gidley said he was confident the Newcastle board had secured the best possible deal from Tinkler Sports Group and said accepting the deal would be best for the Knights.

‘‘It’s getting to the stage now where I think the board has done a great job and certainly has the best outcome for the Newcastle Knights ... It’s a real positive to have Nathan behind us and wanting to support us.’’ he said.

‘‘It would be great to have Nathan involved, and I know his passion for the Knights is the same as mine ... I’d be happy to see it go ahead.

‘‘He wants the same outcome as me, which is to see the Knights winning another grand final.’’

Tew said the board meeting had been postponed for 24 hours to allow the directors to properly analyse the proposal before making a recommendation on whether members should accept it.

‘‘The directors are required to view the final document in full,’’ he said.

‘‘It is important that this is done properly before we hand it over to the members to vote.’’

Tinkler Sports Group executive chairman Ken Edwards said he did not expect any late hiccups and was comfortable with the board having another 24hours to go over the details.

The Tinkler offer includes:

¦ guaranteeing $10million in annual sponsorship revenue for the next 10 years;

¦ wiping the club’s accumulated losses, estimated at about $3million;

¦ a bank guarantee committing $20million to the club if Tinkler cannot meet his commitments;

¦ spending $2.5million a year on junior development;

¦ guaranteeing members’ buy-back rights; and

¦ enshrining the club’s name, colours, location and home ground as the Newcastle Knights based at Ausgrid (formerly EnergyAustralia) Stadium.

‘‘Our lawyers and the Tinkler Group’s lawyers have been working very hard on that document and this morning our legal team forwarded a copy of the documents to myself and the board,’’ Burraston said at the NRL season launch in Sydney yesterday.

‘‘We felt that there wasn’t enough time for the directors to access that and analyse that before the board meeting [yesterday afternoon] so we’ve postponed that meeting.’’

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